Miocic Battles Cormier as Favorite on UFC 226 Odds

A pair of champions will clash at UFC 226 on Saturday as Stipe Miocic puts his UFC heavyweight title on the line against Daniel Cormier as a -250 favorite on the UFC 226 odds.

Miocic set a new UFC record for most successful title defenses by a UFC heavyweight champion in his last outing at UFC 220, outlasting challenger Francis Ngannou to earn a five-round unanimous decision, paying out on +145 odds and improving his professional mixed martial arts record to 18-2 going into Saturday’s matchup at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Fighting out of Independence, Ohio, Miocic has been dominant during his rise to the top of the UFC heavyweight ranks, recording first-round victories on five occasions during a 9-1-0 run, while also earning Performance of the Night and Fight of the Night bonuses on six occasions.

Even in defeat, the 35-year-old has impressed, going the distance in his first meeting with Junior dos Santos, an epic five-round clash at UFC on Fox 13, before coming out on the wrong end of a unanimous decision as a +325 underdog.

However, Miocic will have to contend with a beefed up Cormier on Saturday, with the reigning UFC light heavyweight champion reportedly expecting to tip the scales at a hefty 245 pounds when he enters the octagon on Saturday night as a +195 underdog on the Miocic vs. Cormier odds.

“DC” will be making his first appearance as a heavyweight since October 2013, when he earned a three-round unanimous decision over Roy Nelson as a -500 bet at UFC 166.

The 39-year-old previously held heavyweight titles in the XMMA and KOTC, and also claimed the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix title, but has fought in the 205-pound weight class in each of his past nine fights with his lone defeat coming by unanimous decision as a +170 underdog in a thriller against Jon Jones at UFC 182.

Cormier’s last octagon appearance came on the same card as Miocic at UFC 220, where he ended Volkan Oezdemir’s night with a second-round TKO on punches as a -340 favorite. That marked his fifth finish in six fights since first earning the UFC light heavyweight title at UFC 187 with a third-round submission of Anthony Johnson as a +100 underdog, while also garnering a Performance of the Night bonus.

Holloway vs. Ortega is off the UFC 226 Card

Saturday’s co-main event was originally scheduled to be a UFC featherweight title matchup between champion Max Holloway and Brian Ortega, until Holloway was pulled from the card after experiencing concussion symptoms.

Instead, Ngannou will be taking on Derrick “The Black Beast” Lewis as heavy -370 chalk on the UFC 226 betting odds in a clash of heavyweights. Ngannou’s recent loss to Miocic as -175 chalk ended an impressive 10-fight win streak, and also marked the first time in seven UFC appearances that he has seen a fight go beyond the second round. Lewis trails as a +280 underdog, but has claimed TKO wins on punches in six of his past eight outings.

Elsewhere on the UFC 226 fight odds, Paul Felder is pegged as a -155 favorite over fellow welterweight Mike Perry, while Michael Chiesa takes on Anthony Pettis as a -160 favorite in a battle of lightweights.